Locking device.



C. L. SEELEY.

LOCKING DEVICE.

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CHARLES L. SEELEY, OF LA JUNTA. COLORADO.

LOCKING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 11,1914.

Applegition filed March 17, 191.1, Serial No. 615,951. Renewed January 13, 1914. Serial No. 811,920.

device for locking the Starting crank of a.

motor vehicle so that the machine cannot be 'started in the absence of the. owner.

'lhe primary object of lthe present invenA tion is to provide a simple lock which may' easily and'quickly operated and coini'ii'ises a sliding bolt having a bifurcated head for engagei'iient upon opposite/sides.

of the crank, a sliding pin to lock the bolt againstiiioveinent, and a 'supplementary luck to prevent retraction of said pin to hold the boltin its locking position.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel form of lock for application to the steering post of a motor vehicle to hold thev Wheels of the machine in the position to which they have been turned. Another object of the invention is to'pro vide a device of the above character which /niay be easily and quickly .ppliechA and may bearniiiufaetiii-ed at. small cost. v

With the above` andotlier objects in View, theI irvention consists of the novell features of construction, combination Aand arrangenieiit of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed,and illustrated in the aom; panyinrr drawings, in which I Y Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved locking device showing the same applied to the starting crank ofga motor vehicle; Fig. '2 is a side elevation; F ig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l; Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view lof the lockn i bar: Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. Ish'owimtlef device applied to the steering post of the vehicle and illustrating a slightly modified forni of the locking bolt; Fig. 6

is a sectioiLtakeii on the linee-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring iri"`detail to the drawings 5 designates a plate which is suitably secured upon a suitable base late havingtianges 6 upon its edges, said.plate being secured to the dash-board D o'f the vehicle. The surface of the plate 5 is provided with a central longitudinal channel or groove 7 which, at

head. The shank of the locking bar has an opening 13 therein toreceive' a catch 14 which 'is transversely `rriovable -in thev base 'plate 5. This plate is provided lwith a transverse cylindrical channel 15 in which the catch 14 nieves. r1 he channel 15 opens into the longitudinal groove 7 and also extends into lthe opposite wall of the groove for a slight distance as indicated at 15 to receivethe endl of the catch AMatter V'it has passed through the opening 13 in the' locking bar 10. A llock l5 of 'any desirel type is'also mounted in the plate 5 and is adapte-d,l to be Aactuated to .pre-vent retraction of the catch llt after the same has been ioved to its locking position in the bar 10. The starting crank C i's providedwith ai opening c -to receive the centrally projecting pin 1201i the endvof vthe locking bolt 10, and said crank at opposite sides is iattened as indicated at c to receive the parallel arms of the bifurcated head 1l. Then the-'bolt lO is in locking position as sli-own iin Fig. 1;,

it will lbe obv'ioustliat any turning move-' nient of the vcilank -is rendered impossible, and 'as the catch 14 is held against ret-ractiori by means of the bolt of the lock 16, the machine cannot be started by anyone during the absence of the owner thus obviating the liability of its theft.

lt is well known that the starting cranks of automobiles are automatically pushed kforward to an inoperative position by' a. spring and that they must be pushed rear- Wardly so as to effect a clutching engagement with the crank shaft of themotor, before the` latter can be turned so as to impart an initial impulse to the engine. By provid- Aing the pin 12 and forming the starting kcrank with an aperture extending 'transversely thereof and through Which'the pin projects in the locking positionA ofthe barv 10, it is evident that the starting crank C'.

cannot-bc pushed rearwardly so as to bring about this -clutch connection, Whereas if the `pin l2 were not employed and the recessed sides of the starting crank and the forked Aarms of the bar l() depended upon alone to hold the crank in an inoperatlve position, it would be possible to move the starting crank rearwardly and .effect the clutching engagement of the crank and the crank shaft so that a subsequent attempt to turn the crank mightbe inadvertently made which would tend to wear the parts of the locking device and which might result successfully in strainin the parts to such an extent as to permit t ie motor to be started. By providing the pin 12, all liability to injure the parts, as above pointed out, will be precluded.

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated-the application of my locking device to the steering post- P ofa motor vehicle. Inl this form, the central pin 12 formed on the head'of the locking bolt is referably shorter than the pin 12 previous y described so that it enters .through openings 77 in the casing P of the post P, said post and casing being tubular in form. The outer casing P is also provided with flattened surfaces p at opposite points to receive the arms of the bifqrcated head of the locking bolt. The bolt is locked in asimilar manner to the previousl described form of the device. The locking bolt 10 is preferably of cylin-v drical form, though .it will of course be obvious that if desired this bolt may be rectangular in cross section.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction and operation of my improved locking device will be readily understood, without necessitating a more extended explanation. The device can also be easily applied 'to other parts of the vehicle construction such as the axle or hub, without departing from the features of construction embodied'therein. It will further be obvious that the lock can be manufactured at an extremely low cost, is capableof easy and quick application and effectually opel'- ates to prevent the actuation of the propelling mechanism during the absence of the owner. l y

lVhile I have shown and vdescribed the preferred construction and arrangement tof the various parts, it will be understood that the device is susceptible of considerable modificationk without departing from' the essential feature or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

Having thus described the invention 'what is claimed is A device of-the class described, comprising a casing having a longitudinal guide slot i having an enlarged U-shaped upper end, a

locking bolt adapted for 4movement in the longitudinal guide slot and having an en larged head portion adapted for engagement within the upper enlarged U-shaped end of the guide slot when the locking bolt is in its llowermost position, said head being adapted for engagement around a crank shaft andv having a prong for engagement in the crank shaft to lock the latter against rotation and reciprocation when the locking bolt is in extended position,.and means carried by the casing for securingr the locking bolt in either position.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature inthe presence of two witnesses.

/ CHARLES L. SEELEY.

'itnesses ORAN VALKER, CLARA M. NORTON.

00P!" of thi# Patent may be obtained for ave cents acn, by addressing the commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

